Monday, March 13, 2017

DT Lies

U.S. President Donald Trump makes frequent false claims about matters big and small. The Star is planning to track them all.

Last updated: Mar. 10, 2017

117. Mar. 7, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!”

In fact: According to a report from the U.S. government’s Directorate of National Intelligence, 113 of these 122 “re-engagers” were released from the Guantanamo Bay prison by the administration of George W. Bush, only nine by the Obama administration.

116. Mar. 6, 2017 — Facebook

The claim: “I’m very pleased to announce the great company ExxonMobil is going to be investing $20 billion in the Gulf Coast and the Gulf Coast region. It’ll be 45,000 jobs, and they’re great jobs; $100,000 average. And this is something that was done to a large extent because of our policies and the policies of this new administration having to do with regulation and so many other things.”

In fact: Trump’s policies may have had some impact on Exxon’s decisions, but he is taking far too much credit for this particular investment: even the official White House statement acknowledges that it “began in 2013.”

115. Mar. 3, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “It is so pathetic that the Dems have still not approved my full Cabinet.”

In fact: The Democrats are not responsible for the holdup here: Trump is. At the time, he had two open cabinet slots: labour secretary and agriculture secretary. One delay was the result of his controversial choice for labour secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrawing from consideration. The other delay, in confirming Sonny Perdue as secretary of agriculture, was the result of the administration not actually submitting the Perdue nomination to the Senate.

114. Mar. 2, 2017 — Speech on the USS Gerald R. Ford

The repeated claim: “I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense sequester, and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.”

In fact: His proposed increase, of about 10 per cent, is not one of the largest in history, experts say. “Trump’s historical increase is actually quite average,” Laicie Heeley, a defense budget analyst at the Stimson Center think tank, told Politifact.

113. Feb. 28, 2017 — Speech to joint session of Congress

The claim: “We’ve defended the borders of other nations while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross.”

In fact: The U.S., of course, does not have an undefended or open border, though people manage to sneak past the defences. The Border Patrol, which has a budget of $14 billion, apprehended 415,816 people in 2016.

Play Video
A Donald Trump falsehood

He said what? Does the U.S. have an undefended border that anyone can cross? (TORONTO STAR/WHITE HOUSE/YOUTUBE)
112. Feb. 28, 2017 —Speech to joint session of Congress

The claim: “I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the defense sequester, and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.”

In fact: His proposed increase, of about 10 per cent, is not one of the largest in history, experts say. “Trump’s historical increase is actually quite average,” Laicie Heeley, a defense budget analyst at the Stimson Center think tank, told Politifact.

111. Feb. 28, 2017 — Remarks while signing executive order on Waters of the United States

The claim: “But a few years ago, the EPA decided that navigable waters can mean nearly every puddle or every ditch on a farmer’s land or anyplace else that they decide. Right? It was a massive power grab.”

In fact: This claim about puddles has been a common Republican talking point, but it is not accurate. The Environmental Protection Agency has specifically excluded puddles from this regulation; a fact sheet on its website says, “THE CLEAN WATER RULE DOES NOT REGULATE PUDDLES.” While critics of the regulation argue that the law can still be read to cover puddles, it is just not true that the EPA decided that nearly every puddle is included.

110. Feb. 28, 2017 — Remarks while signing executive order on Waters of the United States

The claim about the waters rule: “The EPA’s regulators were putting people out of jobs by the hundreds of thousands.”

In fact: There is no evidence for this claim.

109. Feb. 28, 2017 — Remarks while signing executive order on Waters of the United States

The claim: “In one case in Wyoming, a rancher was fined $37,000 a day by the EPA for digging a small watering hole for his cattle. His land.”

In fact: The rancher did more than dig a small hole, FactCheck.org found: without a permit, he “constructed a dam on Six Mile Creek, a waterway deemed by the EPA to be a tributary of the Blacks Fork River, which in turn is a tributary of the Green River.”

108. Feb. 28, 2017 — Interview with Fox News’s Fox and Friends

The repeated claim: “We saved $700-million-plus on a F-35 after I got involved.”

In fact: These savings did not come after Trump got involved: Lockheed Martin had been moving to cut the price well before Trump was elected, multiple aviation and defence experts say. Just a week after Trump’s election, the head of the F-35 program announced a reduction of 6 to 7 per cent — in the $600 million to $700 million range.

“Trump’s claimed $600 million cut is right in the ballpark of what the price reduction was going to be all along,” wrote Popular Mechanics. “Bottom line: Trump appears to be taking credit for years of work by the Pentagon and Lockheed,” Aviation Week reported, per the Washington Post.

107. Feb. 28, 2017 — Interview with Fox News’s Fox and Friends

The claim: “You look at the kind of numbers we’re doing. We were probably GDP of a little more than 1 per cent.”

In fact: This is an exaggeration. U.S. gross domestic product grew by 1.6 per cent in 2016; no economic analyst would round this to 1 per cent or call it “a little more than 1 per cent.” GDP grew by 2.6 per cent the year prior.

106. Feb. 28, 2017 — Interview with Fox News’s Fox and Friends

The repeated claim: “You see what I’ve done. Ford has announced, General Motors, Fiat has announced. They’re all building big plants, they’re all coming back into the United States. They were fleeing. They were fleeing our country.”

In fact: Trump is taking credit for investments he was not responsible for. GM did not offer any indication that it made its new investment of $1 billion because of Trump, and independent automotive analysts said it was unlikely Trump was a major factor; GM invested $2.9 billion last year, before Trump was elected. The parent company of Chrysler said Trump had no influence on its newly announced $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio, telling ThinkProgress, “This plan was in the works back in 2015.” Further, all of these companies were maintaining a major presence in the U.S. before Trump was elected.

105. Feb. 28, 2017 — Interview with Fox News’s Fox and Friends

The claim: “Look just at the money I’ve saved. I’ve saved billions and billions of dollars.”

In fact: There is no evidence of this.

104. Feb. 27, 2017 — Meeting with the National Governors Association

The claim: “Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated.”

In fact: We let a lot of Trump’s hyperbole slide, but this one is egregious. Numerous experts warned that the repeal of Obamacare was far more complicated than Trump was suggesting when he said he would do it immediately upon becoming president. And a Politico health journalist, Dan Diamond, tweeted multiple examples of Barack Obama calling healthcare complicated. Finally, Trump himself said repeal and replacement was “very complicated stuff” a week and a half before he took office.

103. Feb. 27, 2017 — Meeting with the National Governors Association

The repeated claim: “I got involved in an airplane contract, I got involved in some other contracts, and we cut the hell out of the prices. I mean, we saved a lot of money, tremendous amount of money, beyond anything that the generals that were involved…On one plane, on a small order of one plane, I saved $725 million. And I would say I devoted about, if I added it up, all those calls, probably about an hour.”

In fact: Trump was taking personal credit for savings he did not personally secure. These savings did not come after Trump “got involved”: Lockheed Martin had been moving to cut the price of the F-35 well before Trump was elected, multiple aviation and defence experts say. Just a week after Trump’s election, the head of the F-35 program announced a reduction of 6 to 7 per cent — in the $600 million to $700 million range.

“Trump’s claimed $600 million cut is right in the ballpark of what the price reduction was going to be all along,” wrote Popular Mechanics. “Bottom line: Trump appears to be taking credit for years of work by the Pentagon and Lockheed,” Aviation Week reported, per the Washington Post.

102. Feb. 27, 2017 — Interview with Breitbart News

The repeated claim about the New York Times: “In fact, they had to write a letter of essentially apology to their subscribers because they got the election so wrong.”

In fact: The Times never apologized for its Trump coverage; Trump was referring to a post-election letter, a kind of sales pitch, in which Times leaders thanked readers and said they planned to “rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism.”

101. Feb. 27, 2017 — Interview with Breitbart News

The claim about New York Times journalist Michael Barbaro: “For instance, when people read the story on the women – first of all, the reporter who wrote the story has a website full of hatred of Donald Trump. So, he shouldn’t be allowed to be a reporter because he’s not objective.”

In fact: Barbaro does not have a website.

100. Feb. 27, 2017 — Interview with Breitbart News

The claim: “They did a front-page article on women talking about me, and the women went absolutely wild because they said that was not what they said. It was a big front-page article, and the Times wouldn’t even apologize and yet they were wrong. You probably saw the women. They went on television shows and everything.”

In fact: One woman, not multiple women, went on television to complain about the Times article in which she was quoted. (Rowanne Brewer Lane alleged that the Times put a “negative” spin on her quotes.) The Times interviewed “dozens” of women; the others did not offer criticism of the piece.

The claim: “Maybe they are just bad at polling or maybe they’re not legit, but it’s one or the other, look at how inaccurate — look at CBS, look at ABC, also, look at NBC, take a look at some of these polls.”

In fact: These organizations’ election polls were quite accurate. Hillary Clinton won the national popular vote by three points. CBS’s final poll had her winning by four. ABC’s had her winning by three. NBC’s was the worst, with Clinton up by five, but the result was still within the poll’s margin of error.

The repeated claim: “Ford and Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Intel, and so many others are now, because of the election result, making major investments in the United States, expanding production and hiring more workers.”

In fact:GM did not offer any indication that it made its new investment of $1 billion because of Trump, and independent automotive analysts said it was unlikely Trump was a major factor; GM invested $2.9 billion last year, before Trump was elected. The parent company of Chrysler said Trump had no influence on its newly announced $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio, telling ThinkProgress, “This plan was in the works back in 2015.”

The claim: “By the way, you folks are in here — this place is packed, there are lines that go back six blocks and I tell you that because you won’t read about it, OK. But there are lines that go back six blocks.”

The claim: “Obamacare covers very few people — and remember, deduct from the number all of the people that had great health care that they loved that was taken away from them.”

In fact: By no objective measure does Obamacare cover “very few” people. Twenty million people have gained coverage under the law. One study estimated that 2.6 million people initially received notices that their coverage was being cancelled; the number that actually did was likely far lower. Even if it wasn’t, the coverage gains would far exceed the coverage losses.

The claim: “Our Border Patrol, I’ll tell you what they do, they came and endorsed me, ICE came and endorsed me. They never endorsed a presidential candidate before, they might not even be allowed to.

In fact: Indeed, these two government bodies are not allowed to endorse candidates — and they didn’t. Trump was endorsed by unions of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees, not the government bodies themselves.

The claim: “In fact, in covering my comments, the dishonest media did not explain that I called the fake news the enemy of the people. The fake news. They dropped off the word ‘fake.’ And all of a sudden the story became the media is the enemy. They take the word ‘fake’ out.”

In front of a roaring crowd, Trump again calls the media the ‘enemy of the people’

In fact: This is a strange one. The media accurately reported that Trump tweeted: “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” Reports did not take the word “fake” out. Trump uses “fake news” to refer to media coverage broadly, and broadly mentioned five specific outlets, so there was nothing dishonest about reporting that he had attacked the media here.

The claim: “Because they have no sources, they just make ’em up when there are none. I saw one story recently where they said, ‘Nine people have confirmed.’ There’re no nine people.”

In fact: The Washington Post did not make up its sources: its story, about national security adviser Michael Flynn allegedly discussing U.S. sanctions with Russia’s ambassador before the election, resulted in Trump firing Flynn.

91. Feb. 23, 2017 — White House meeting with manufacturing CEOs

The claim: “Gary, as you know — you all know Gary from Goldman, Gary Cohn. And we’re really happy — just paid $200 million in tax in order to take this job, by the way. Which is very much unlike Gary. But he’s great.”

In fact: Cohn, Trump’s National Economic Council director, did not pay $200 million in tax to take the job. In fact, he did perhaps the exact opposite — sell stock worth more than $200 million. According to Bloomberg, Cohn, formerly president of Goldman Sachs, was preparing to divest “roughly $220 million of Goldman equity he already held or was awaiting, as well as stakes in company-run investment funds”; he also got an additional $65 million payout. Also relevant: he might not have to pay any tax on the sales for a long while. White House appointees who are forced to sell stock to avoid conflicts of interests are allowed to defer capital gains taxes if they plow their proceeds into several kinds of approved investments.

90. Feb. 23, 2017 — White House meeting with manufacturing CEOs

The claim: “We don’t have any good deals. In fact, I’m trying to find a country where we actually have a surplus of trade as opposed to — everything is a deficit.”

In fact: The U.S. has surpluses with more than half of all countries in merchandise trade, figures from the U.S. International Trade Commission show — and merchandise trade is a measure that doesn’t count the services trade at which the U.S. excels. Major countries with which the U.S. has a surplus in merchandise trade include Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, Argentina, and the United Kingdom.

89. Feb. 23, 2017 — White House meeting with manufacturing CEOs

The claim: “With Mexico, we have $70 billion in deficits, trade deficits, and it’s unsustainable. We’re not going to let it happen. Can’t let it happen. We’re going to have a good relationship with Mexico, I hope. And if we don’t, we don’t. But we can’t let that happen — $70 billion in trade deficits.”

In fact: The US trade deficit with Mexico was $63 billion in 2016, U.S. government figures show, counting only trade in goods. It is always billions smaller when trade in services is included.

88. Feb. 23, 2017 — White House meeting with manufacturing CEOs

The claim: “With China, we have close to a $500 billion trade deficit.”

In fact: The U.S. trade deficit with China was $347 billion in 2016, U.S. government figures show, counting only trade in goods. It is always billions smaller when trade in services is included.

87. Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The claim: “By the way, do you think that one media group back there, one network will show this crowd. Not one. Not one. They won’t show the crowd.”

In fact: CNN, Fox News and NBC all televised wide shots showing the size of the crowd at the rally.

86. Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The claim: “By the way, we did very well with women. You know, my wife said when some of these phoney polls were put out, the CNN poll was so far off, the phoney polls. When some of these, she said, what’s wrong with you and women.”

In fact: The final CNN poll of the campaign came close to nailing Trump’s showing with women. The poll had Clinton up 52 per cent to 39 per cent, a 13-point lead; exit polls from the actual voting that Clinton had won with women 54 per cent to 41 per cent — 13 points.

85. Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The claim: “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden.”

In fact: No security incident of note happened the previous night in Sweden.

84. Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The repeated claim: “We’ve allowed thousands and thousands of people into our country and there was no way to vet those people. There was no documentation. There was no nothing.” Added: “Tens of thousands of people into our country, and we don’t know anything about those people.”

In fact: Refugees to the U.S. are rigorously vetted. The process includes multiple kinds of background and security checks and at least two interviews with U.S. representatives. Regardless of their paperwork situation — some have detailed documents, some do not — the U.S. knows far more than nothing about the refugees it approves.

83.Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The claim: “Ford, General Motors, Fiat-Chrysler are bringing in and bringing back thousands of jobs, investing billions of dollars because of the new business climate that we are creating in our country. In Arizona, Intel, great company, just announced it will open a new plant that will create at least 10,000 brand new beautiful American jobs.”

In fact: GM did not offer any indication that it made its new investment of $1 billion because of Trump, and independent automotive analysts said it was unlikely Trump was a major factor; GM invested $2.9 billion last year, before Trump was elected. The parent company of Chrysler said Trump had no influence on its newly announced $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio, telling ThinkProgress, “This plan was in the works back in 2015.” Intel says its new plant, on which it began and then halted work under Barack Obama, will employ up to 3,000 people; the 10,000 figure is an estimate of how many will be created “indirectly.”

82.Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The claim: “Jobs are already starting to pour back in. They’re coming back in like you haven’t seen in a long time.”

In fact: There is no evidence of jobs returning to the U.S. at levels unseen in a “long time.” Even if we give Trump credit for the good January jobs report — calculated while Barack Obama was still in office — there is no sign of a boom that is without recent precedent. The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in January. It did better than that during 11 months out of the last two years. For example, it added 233,000 in February 2016, 275,000 in July 2016 and 271,000 in December 2015.

81.Feb. 18, 2017 — Campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla.

The repeated claim about the F-35 fighter plane: “I also got Boeing in. I said do me a favour, give me a competing offer. And now they’re competing and fighting and we’ve gotten hundreds of millions of dollars off the price of a plane that was going to be ordered … So they’re going to make plenty of money, but it’s going to be a lot less than they would have made without Trump.”

In fact: Trump did not personally secure these savings: Lockheed Martin had been moving to cut the price well before Trump was elected, multiple aviation and defence experts say. Just a week after Trump’s election, the head of the F-35 program announced a reduction of 6 to 7 per cent — in the $600 million to $700 million range.

“Trump’s claimed $600 million cut is right in the ballpark of what the price reduction was going to be all along,” wrote Popular Mechanics. “Bottom line: Trump appears to be taking credit for years of work by the Pentagon and Lockheed,” Aviation Week reported, per the Washington Post.

80. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan.”

In fact: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all earned bigger margins in the electoral college than Trump did.

79. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim about former campaign manager Paul Manafort: “He said that he has absolutely nothing to do and never has with Russia. He said that very forcefully. I saw his statement. He said it forcefully. Most of the papers do not print it because it’s not good for their stories.”

The 5 other front page stories the Star could run after Trump’s wild presser

In fact: The New York Times story Trump was criticizing included Manafort’s denial, in which he said he never “knowingly” had contact with Russian intelligence officers. Other major outlets that followed up on the story also printed a denial from Manafort.

78. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “I will say that I never get phone calls from the media. How do they write a story like that in the Wall Street Journal without asking me or how do they write a story in the New York Times put it on the front page.”

In fact: Media outlets almost always call his administration for comment on major stories. The Journal, in its story about U.S. intelligence declining to share some information with Trump, prominently quoted a denial from an anonymous administration official. The Times also sought comment for its story, but the administration declined to provide one.

77. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “Remember, I used to give you a news conference every time I made a speech, which was like every day. OK?”

In fact: This is not even close to true. Trump indeed gave near-daily speeches during the campaign, but he did not do a single news conference over the last three months of the campaign.

76. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban.”

In fact: We don’t usually fact-check claims like “smooth” — it’s vague, and it’s a matter of opinion — but the rollout of the travel ban was so obviously not smooth that we’re making an exception here. The implementation of the ban resulted in mass confusion among U.S. allies like Canada, caused travel problems for thousands of visa-holders and permanent residents, necessitated a series of clarifications and reversals by U.S. officials, and appeared so hasty that a federal appeals court has found that the administration may have violated residents’ constitutional right to due process.

75. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “That’s the other thing that was wrong with the travel ban. You had Delta with a massive problem with their computer system at the airports.”

In fact: The Delta outage had nothing to do with the chaos created by the travel ban. The travel ban caused mass confusion on a Saturday; the Delta outage occurred more than a day and a half later, on a Sunday night.

74. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim about labour secretary nominee Alex Acosta: “He’s a member and has been a member of the National Labor Relations Board.”

In fact: Acosta is not currently a member of the board. He served on it from 2002 to 2003.

73. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim about the news media: “I mean, you have a lower approval rate than Congress. I think that’s right.”

In fact: The media is unpopular with Americans, but Congress has consistently been even less popular. Last year, Gallup found that just 9 per cent had confidence in Congress; 20 per cent had confidence in newspapers, 21 per cent in television news. While the new Congress is now up to a 28 per cent approval rating, Gallup found in September that 32 per cent said they had trust in the media.

72. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “Now, when WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, they’re not giving classified information.”

In fact: Trump may have been attempting to refer specifically to WikiLeaks release of emails related to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which were not classified. But he ended up wrongly suggesting that WikiLeaks does not provide classified information at all. The organization made its name releasing hundreds of thousands of pages of classified U.S. material.

71. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “The failing New York Times wrote a big, long front-page story yesterday. And it was very much discredited, as you know.”

In fact: The article, headlined “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence,” has not been discredited.

70. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “And the people mentioned in the story, I notice they were on television today saying they never even spoke to Russia.”

In fact: One of the people mentioned in the New York Times story, Trump associate Roger Stone, went on television to deny having any contact with any Russians. But the other people mentioned in the story did not issue such categorical denials in any medium. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, told the New York Times that he never “knowingly” had contact with Russian intelligence officers, adding that such people do not “wear badges.” Former Trump adviser Carter Page he had only “said hello to a few Russian officials over the course of the last year or so”; he also gave a speech in Moscow.

69. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim about the 9th Circuit appeals court: “In fact, we had to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that has been overturned at a record number. I have heard 80 per cent — I find that hard to believe; that’s just a number I heard — that they’re overturned 80 per cent of the time.”

In fact: This statement is false in one way, possibly misleading in another. It is false that the 9th Circuit is overturned by the Supreme Court at a “record number.” Even in the study conservatives usually cite in criticizing the 9th Circuit, the court had the second-highest reversal rate between 1999 and 2008. Between 2010 and 2015, it was third-highest. In the most recent court term for which complete data is readily available, the 9th Circuit was again in second place.

It may be misleading to discuss reversal rates this way at all. The Supreme Court overturns a majority of cases it agrees to hear — but those cases represent a tiny fraction of total cases decided by a circuit court. So even if 80 per cent of 9th Circuit cases that reach the Supreme Court are overturned, that still means more than 99 per cent of the circuit’s total decisions are not overturned.

68. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim about the 9th Circuit appeals court: “I think that circuit is — that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil.”

In fact: The court is functioning as normal. There is no sign of chaos or turmoil.

67. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 per cent of the uranium in our country.” Added: “Hillary Clinton gave them 20 per cent of our uranium.”

In fact: Clinton didn’t personally give Russia uranium. The State Department, which Clinton led as secretary of state, was one of nine government entities that reviewed the Russian purchase of the Toronto-based firm Uranium One, which controlled the rights to about 20 per cent of U.S. uranium capacity. There is no evidence Clinton was personally involved in the process in any way. Further, only the president could have made the decision to block the deal; Clinton did not have final authority either way.

66. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “This administration is running like a fine- tuned machine, despite the fact that I can’t get my cabinet approved. And they’re outstanding people like Senator Dan Coats who’s there, one of the most respected men of the Senate. He can’t get approved. How do you not approve him?”

In fact: We’ll ignore the dubious “fine-tuned machine” claim — there is no sign that Coats, Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, “can’t get approved” or is even facing obstruction. The Republican who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, Sen. Richard Burr, told The Hill they are waiting for the FBI and others to finish background checks, and that they will hold a hearing when the Senate returns from its one-week break.

65. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “Walmart announced it will create 10,000 jobs in the United States just this year because of our various plans and initiatives.”

In fact: The Walmart expansion plan that is creating the jobs was announced in October, before Trump was elected. The company did not reveal the precise 10,000 figure until after Trump took office, but it is directly connected to the previous announcement.

64. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House press conference

The claim: “General Motors likewise committed to invest billions of dollars in its American manufacturing operation, keeping many jobs here that were going to leave. And if I didn’t get elected, believe me, they would have left. And these jobs and these things that I’m announcing would never have come here.”

In fact: GM made a new $1 billion commitment to U.S. factories, not “billions”; it committed $2.9 billion last year, before Trump was elected. GM did not offer any indication that it made the decision because of Trump, and independent automotive analysts said it was unlikely the company had done so. “Mostly theatre to play in the news cycle created by President-elect Trump’s tweets,” Autotrader analyst Michelle Krebs said. “These investments and hiring plans have long been in the works and are a continuation of what the company has been doing in recent years.”

Play Video
Trump vows to defeat terrorism in U.S. Central Command visit

Speaking to a military crowd at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, President Donald Trump said America is determined to defeat terrorists and he said our country needs to make sure that people who want to destroy us aren't allowed in.(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS )
63. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House“listening session” with members of Congress

The claim: “Well, I always said about President Obama, it’s great to play golf, but play golf with heads of countries. And, by the way, people like yourself (congressmen), when you’re looking for votes, don’t play with your friends who you play with every week.”

In fact: Trump did not “always” say this about Obama, if he said it at all. He criticized Obama’s golfing at least 11 times on Twitter without ever declaring that it would be great for Obama to play with foreign leaders. He also said, “I don’t want to touch a golf club.”

62. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House “listening session” with members of Congress

The claim: “The fake-news media doesn’t like talking about the economy; I never see anything about the stock market sets new records every day. I never see it.”

In fact: We cannot fact-check what Trump does or doesn’t personally see, but his suggestion that the media ignores market records is inaccurate. The Dow Jones industrial average has received extensive coverage, even more than the usual daily stream of business stories, as it has reached new heights over the last month.

61. Feb. 16, 2017 — White House “listening session” with members of Congress

The claim: “Will anybody show up to that press conference? Historically, they didn’t care about these things. For me, they show up.”

The claim: “Just leaving Florida. Big crowds of enthusiastic supporters lining the road that the FAKE NEWS media refuses to mention. Very dishonest!”

In fact: There were some supporters along the road, but they were far outnumbered by protesters, according to reporters on scene.

59. Feb. 12, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “While on FAKE NEWS @CNN, Bernie Sanders was cut off for using the term fake news to describe the network. They said technical difficulties!”

In fact: Sanders was not cut off by CNN, and he was mocking Trump’s use of “fake news” to describe the network, not doing so himself. What actually happened: Sanders jokingly called CNN “fake news,” then added, “It was a joke.” CNN host Erin Burnett said, “I know it was a joke.” Sanders then lost his audio feed of Burnett’s questions. Burnett announced they would go to commercial to get it sorted out. After the break, she continued the interview.

58. Feb. 10, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “The failing @nytimes does major FAKE NEWS China story saying “Mr. Xi has not spoken to Mr. Trump since Nov. 14.” We spoke at length yesterday!”

In fact: Trump was wrong to suggest the Times made an error: this article was written before Trump’s phone call with Xi. As soon as the call became known, the Times updated the article, online and in its late print edition, to include the details of the conversation. Trump may have been reacting to an earlier print edition, but this was not “fake news,” simply the news as it stood as of the newspaper’s deadline.

The claim: “The president claimed that he and (Republican former senator Kelly) Ayotte both would have been victorious in the Granite State if not for the ‘thousands’ of people who were ‘brought in on buses’ from neighbouring Massachusetts to ‘illegally’ vote in New Hampshire.”

In fact: Such fraud did not happen.

56. Feb. 9, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Chris Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his long-term lie about his brave “service” in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS!”

In fact: Cuomo, a CNN host, began the interview by asking Blumenthal about this very subject. His first question: “What is your response to the president of the United States saying you should not be believed because you misrepresented your military record in the past?” While Cuomo may not have pressed Blumenthal as hard as Trump would have liked, he certainly did not ignore the matter.

55. Feb. 9, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie), now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?” (Trump added out loud: “His comments were misrepresented.”)

In fact: Blumenthal accurately relayed the remarks of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Blumenthal told reporters that Gorsuch had described as “demoralizing and disheartening” Trump’s attack on a judge who ruled against his travel ban. A spokesman for Gorsuch confirmed that Gorsuch used those precise words. The Gorsuch team later added a little bit of wiggle room, insisting he was “not referring to any specific case,” but reiterated the basic point: “He said that he finds any criticism of a judge’s integrity and independence disheartening and demoralizing.”

54. Feb. 8, 2017 — Speech to the Major Cities Chiefs Association

The claim: “I want you to turn in the bad ones. Call Secretary Kelly’s representatives and we’ll get them out of our country and bring them back where they came from, and we’ll do it fast. You have to call up the federal government, Homeland Security, because so much of the problems — you look at Chicago and you look at other places. So many of the problems are caused by gang members, many of whom are not even legally in our country.”

In fact: Trump has not presented any evidence whatsoever that illegal immigrants are responsible for much of Chicago’s crime problem, and academic experts and local officials say Trump is wrong. “I don’t know anyone in Chicago who believes that,” said Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County board, according to CBS Chicago. “Whether we are talking about African-American or Latino neighbourhoods, we are not talking about illegal immigrants. We are talking about our native-born sons and daughters.”

53. Feb. 7, 2017 — Meeting with the National Sheriffs’ Association

The claim: “The murder rate in our country’s the highest it’s been in 47 years, right? Did you know that? 47 years? I’d say that in a speech and everybody’s surprised. Because the press doesn’t tell it like it is. It wasn’t to their advantage to say that.”

In fact: The homicide rate is not even close to a 47-year high. In fact, it remains near historic lows. There were 10 homicides per 100,000 residents in 1980, eight per 100,000 residents in 1995; in 2015, the latest year for which there is national data, it was five per 100,000 residents. Trump sometimes correctly notes that the increase in the homicide rate between 2014 and 2015 was the largest in more than 40 years. But that is far different than the actual rate being the highest.

52. Feb. 7, 2017 — Meeting with the National Sheriffs’ Association

The claim: “As you know, I approved two pipelines that were stuck in limbo forever. I don’t even think it was controversial. You know, I approved them. I haven’t even heard. I haven’t had had one call from anybody saying oh, that was a terrible thing you did. I haven’t had one call.”

In fact: Trump’s administration has indeed granted approval for the Dakota Access pipeline. But he has not approved the other pipeline, Keystone XL from Alberta. The executive order he signed in January merely invites TransCanada Corp. to reapply for approval, and directs his secretary of state to make a decision within 60 days of receiving this new application. So: it would have been accurate for Trump to say he advanced two pipelines, but not that he “approved them.”

51.Feb. 7, 2017 — Meeting with the National Sheriffs’ Association

The claim: “The EPA — you’re right, I call it — it’s clogged the bloodstream of our country. People can’t do anything. People are looking to get approvals for factories for 15 years, and then after the 15th year they get voted down after having spent a fortune.”

In fact: Environmental law experts say it would be extremely rare for a manufacturer to wait 15 years for an approval from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, if that even happens at all. “Without any facts to back it up,” said Maxine Lipeles, director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at the law school at Washington University in St. Louis, Trump’s statement is “really kind of hard to believe. It could be that he found one case ... It would be very much an outlier.” Lipeles also noted that most permit-approval is done at the state level.

50. Feb. 7, 2017 — Meeting with the National Sheriffs’ Association

The claim about the Dakota Access Pipeline: “Years of getting approvals, nobody showed up to fight it, this company spends tremendous — hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars — and then all of a sudden people show up to fight it.”

In fact: While protest against the pipeline greatly intensified in 2016, it is false that “nobody” was fighting it before it was granted approvals. “Bakken pipeline protesters flooded the Iowa Utilities Board headquarters in Des Moines on Thursday morning, delivering 1,000 written grievances about the consequences of building the pipeline in the state,” read a Des Moines Register article in Oct. 2015. Iowa’s WHOTV reported in Nov. 2015 about intense opposition from Iowa farmers.

49. Feb. 7, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “It is a disgrace that my full Cabinet is still not in place, the longest such delay in the history of our country.”

In fact: Trump does not even come close to the record for the longest delay before having a full cabinet in place. We only have to go back one presidency for proof: Barack Obama didn’t have his final cabinet member confirmed until April 28, 2009, 99 days into his presidency. Trump wasn’t even a full 19 days into his presidency when he posted this tweet.

The repeated claim about Iran: “We’ve already given them billions and billions, probably $150 billion.”

In fact: The U.S. did not give Iran $150 billion in the deal restricting Iran’s nuclear program. Rather, a smaller amount of frozen Iranian assets were unfrozen. The Treasury Department told Congress in 2015 that total Iranian assets in question were estimated at $100 billion to $125 billion; it put the “usable liquid assets” at around $50 billion. John Kerry, then the secretary of state, said Iran would get about $55 billion.

The claim: “The previous administration allowed it to happen. Because we shouldn’t have been in Iraq but we shouldn’t have gotten out the way we got out. It created a vacuum, ISIS was formed.”

In fact: Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, was formed long before the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, which occurred in 2011. The group has roots as far back as 1999, and it was already using the name Islamic State by 2006, under George W. Bush. While it had been weakened by 2011, it was around. So Trump can make a reasonable argument that the U.S. withdrawal helped the group thrive, but it is simply inaccurate to say Daesh “was formed” in a post-withdrawal vacuum.

46.Feb. 6, 2017 — Twitter

The repeated claim: “The failing @nytimes was forced to apologize to its subscribers for the poor reporting it did on my election win.”

In fact: The New York Times not only wasn’t “forced” to apologize for its coverage, it did not apologize at all. Trump was referring to a post-election letter, a kind of sales pitch, in which Times leaders thanked readers and said they planned to “rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism.”

45. Feb. 6, 2017 — Speech to U.S. Central Command

The repeated claim: “I have already saved more than $700 million when I got involved in the negotiation on the F-35. You know about that.”

In fact: Trump did not personally secure these savings: Lockheed Martin had been moving to cut the price well before Trump was elected, multiple aviation and defence experts say. Just a week after Trump’s election, the head of the F-35 program announced a reduction of 6 to 7 per cent — in the $600 million to $700 million range.

“Trump’s claimed $600 million cut is right in the ballpark of what the price reduction was going to be all along,” wrote Popular Mechanics. “Bottom line: Trump appears to be taking credit for years of work by the Pentagon and Lockheed,” Aviation Week reported, per the Washington Post.

44.Feb. 6, 2017 — Speech to U.S. Central Command

The claim on terrorism by Islamic extremists: “You’ve seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe it’s happening. It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported. And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.”

In fact: Terror attacks in Europe are widely reported.

43. Feb. 6, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election.”

In fact: None of the polls are “fake news” — deliberate attempts to mislead. Even if “fake news” is simply defined as “wrong,” Trump is still incorrect: election polls were actually quite accurate. Both ABC’s final tracking poll with the Washington Post and NBC’s final poll with the Wall Street Journal gave Hillary Clinton a three-point national lead; she won the popular vote by 2.9 points. The final CNN poll, two weeks before voting day, had Clinton up five points.

Play Video
Protests at airports across U.S.

Protests were held at airports in a number of U.S. cities, following President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning travel from seven majority Muslim nations.(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
42. Feb. 5, 2017 — Super Bowl interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly

The claim about his travel ban: “I think it was very smooth. We had 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travellers and all we did was vet those people very, very carefully … General Kelly — who’s now Secretary Kelly — he said he totally knew, he was aware of it, and it was very smooth. It was 109 people.”

In fact: The implementation of the ban was anything but smooth — it produced confusion in foreign countries, in America and even within Trump’s own government — and it affected far more than 109 people. A lawyer for the Trump administration said in court that 100,000 people had their visas revoked; Homeland Security officials announced that 721 people had been denied boarding at airports; thousands more were left uncertain about their status or were forced to change plans. Trump’s press secretary has clarified that the 109 figure refers solely to “the initial group of people that were in transit at the time the executive order was signed” — which is not even close to the total number of people impacted.

41. Feb. 5, 2017 — Super Bowl interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly

The claim: “I’ve been against the war in Iraq from the beginning.”

In fact: This was one of Trump’s most oft-repeated lies of the 2016 campaign, and it has been thoroughly debunked. Trump did not express opposition to the war until 17 months after it began. Asked on radio in 2002 if he supported the looming invasion, he said, “Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly.” This was in line with a statement he made in his 2000 book: “If we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion.” A day after the invasion, he said, “It looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint.”

40. Feb. 5, 2017 — Super Bowl interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly

The claim: “California in many ways is out of control, as you know. Obviously the voters agree, otherwise they wouldn’t have voted for me.”

In fact: It is hard to fact-check nonsense, but this is nonsensical. California governance was not one of the subjects debated during the national campaign, and not even pro-Trump pundits argued that his victory was a reaction against California. Further, Trump was trounced in California voting: 62 per cent for Hillary Clinton to his own 32 per cent.

39. Feb. 5, 2017 — Super Bowl interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly

The claim about voter fraud: O’Reilly: “So you think you’re gonna be proven correct in that statement (that three million illegal immigrants voted)? Trump: “Well, I think I already have. A lot of people have come out and said that I am correct.”

In fact: Even if Trump is referring here to his broader claim of widespread voter fraud, not specifically the “three million illegal immigrants” claim, he’s still wrong: no credible expert has said Trump is correct. That includes Republican elections officials around the country. That Trump can find some conspiracy theorists to declare him correct does not amount to proof.

38. Feb. 4, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “What is our country coming to when a judge can halt a Homeland Security travel ban and anyone, even with bad intentions, can come into U. S.?”

In fact: The U.S. does not allow “anyone” to come in. Even without Trump’s travel ban, there is strict vetting of refugees, and visas are required for people seeking to enter from the seven mostly-Muslim countries to which the ban would apply.

37. Feb. 4, 2017 — Twitter

The repeated claim: “After being forced to apologize for its bad and inaccurate coverage of me after winning the election, the FAKE NEWS @nytimes is still lost!”

In fact: The New York Times not only wasn’t “forced” to apologize for its coverage, it did not apologize at all. Trump was referring to a post-election letter, a kind of sales pitch, in which Times leaders thanked readers and said they planned to “rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism.”

36. Feb. 3, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Thank you to Prime Minister of Australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about.”

In fact: The media did not lie about their phone call, which was not civil. A senior Trump official acknowledged to the Washington Post that it had been “hostile and charged,” and prominent news outlets in both countries reported that Trump had berated Malcolm Turnbull. Turnbull denied that Trump had “hung up” on him, but he did not deny that the call had ended abruptly after 25 minutes, as the Post reported. “Was it cut short?” an Australian radio host pressed Turnbull. “The call ended courteously. That’s all I want to say about that,” Turnbull responded.

35. Feb. 2, 2017 — Facebook and Twitter

The claim: “’Trump taps first woman to CIA second in command’.”

In fact: Trump’s appointee, Gina Haspel, is the second female CIA deputy director, not the first: Barack Obama appointed Avril Haines to that post. Trump was quoting an inaccurate headline in The Hill newspaper — it was soon changed — but the president does not get a pass when publicizing inaccurate claims about his own administration, even if he did not make them up himself.

34. Feb. 2, 2017 — Facebook

The claim: “Smart! ‘Kuwait issues its own Trump-esque visa ban for five Muslim-majority countries.’”

In fact: Kuwait imposed no such ban. The Kuwaiti government later told its state news agency that it “categorically denies these claims,” and representatives of countries supposedly affected, like Pakistan, also said the story was wrong. Trump was sharing a link to an entirely inaccurate headline from the Jordanian website Al Bawaba, not making it up himself, but the president does not get a pass for promoting false information.

33. Feb. 2, 2017 — White House meeting with Harley-Davidson

The repeated claim: “I love Australia as a country, but we had a problem where for whatever reason, President Obama said that they were going to take probably well over 1,000 illegal immigrants who were in prisons, and they were going to bring them and take them into this country. And I just said, ‘Why?’…1,250. It could be 2,000, it could be more than that.”

In fact: The people in question are refugees, not illegal immigrants, who are living in island detention centres off of Australia. As Australia’s prime minister repeatedly told Trump, and as Trump’s own press secretary concurred, the agreement covers 1,250 people, not 2,000.

The claim: “Do you believe it? The Obama Administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia.”

In fact: The people in question are refugees, not illegal immigrants; the agreement covers 1,250 people, not “thousands.”

31. Feb. 2, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Iran was on its last legs and ready to collapse until the U.S. came along and gave it a lifeline in the form of the Iran Deal: $150 billion.”

In fact: Iran was nowhere near collapse before it signed the 2015 nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other major countries. Iran did not get $150 billion in the deal. Rather, a smaller amount of Iranian assets were unfrozen. The Treasury Department told Congress in 2015 that total Iranian assets were estimated at $100 billion to $125 billion; it put the “usable liquid assets” at around $50 billion. John Kerry, then the secretary of state, said Iran would get about $55 billion.

30. Feb. 1, 2017 — Black History Month “listening session”

The claim: “I don’t watch CNN.”

In fact: All available evidence suggests that Trump is at least an occasional CNN viewer. Though he has repeatedly claimed since May 2016 that he was boycotting the network, he has frequently commented on its content within a week of doing so — sometimes live, during a show. Eight days after this latest claim to not be watching CNN, he tweeted immediate criticism of an interview by CNN morning host Chris Cuomo.

29. Jan. 30, 2017 —Remarks at the White House

The claim: “But we cut approximately $600 million off the F-35 fighter, and that only amounts to 90 planes out of close to 3,000 planes. And when you think about $600 million, it was announced by Marillyn (Hewson), who’s very talented, the head of Lockheed Martin. I got involved in that about a month ago. A lot was put out, and when they say a lot, a lot meant about 90 planes. They were having a lot of difficulty. There was no movement and I was able to get $600 million approximately off those planes.”

In fact: Whether or not Trump secured additional discounts from Lockheed, he is wrong that there had been “no movement” until he got involved: the company had been moving to cut the price well before Trump was elected, multiple aviation and defence experts say. Just a week after Trump’s election, the head of the F-35 program announced a reduction of 6 to 7 per cent — in the $600 million to $700 million range.

“Trump’s claimed $600 million cut is right in the ballpark of what the price reduction was going to be all along,” wrote Popular Mechanics. “Bottom line: Trump appears to be taking credit for years of work by the Pentagon and Lockheed,” Aviation Week reported, per the Washington Post.

28. Jan. 30, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage, protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer.”

In fact: This is false and misleading in multiple ways. The Delta computer outage happened a full day and a half after the chaos over Trump’s ban on all new refugees and on travel by nationals from seven mostly Muslim countries. The peaceful protesters at airports did not cause “big problems.” Nor, of course, did Schumer’s emotional speech.

In reality, the poorly explained order caused confusion around the word, resulting in hassles at airports and beyond for tens of thousands of people — far more than were detained upon entry. And while it is not clear if Trump was correct that “only” 109 people had been detained at the time, Homeland Security officials said a day later that 721 people had been denied boarding.

The claim: “My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.”

In fact: Trump is wrong that Obama “banned” Iraqi refugees. After two Iraqi refugees were arrested on terrorism charges, Obama increased scrutiny of new refugee applicants, slowing down the process significantly, but did not ban Iraqis entirely or ban all new refugees. Iraqi refugees were admitted to the U.S. in every month of 2011, government figures show, and 9,388 were admitted in total in 2011.

26. Jan. 28, 2017 — Twitter

The claim: “Thr (sic) coverage about me in the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost gas (sic) been so false and angry that the times actually apologized to its dwindling subscribers and readers.”

In fact: This claim is false in two ways. First, the Times’ subscriber base is growing, not dwindling: the company says it added more than 300,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2016. Second, the Times never apologized for its Trump coverage; Trump was referring to a post-election letter, a kind of sales pitch, in which Times leaders thanked readers and said they planned to “rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism.”

The claim: “Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, very very, at least very very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible.”

In fact: There is no basis for the claim that U.S. authorities are treating Christian applicants from Syria worse than they treated Muslims. While a very small percentage of the Syrian refugees accepted by the U.S. in 2016 were Christian — 0.5 per cent, according to FactCheck.org — Christians make up a similarly tiny percentage of the Syrian refugees in nearby countries: 1.5 per cent in Lebanon, 0.2 per cent in Jordan.

The claim: “The Cuban-Americans — I got 84 per cent of that vote, and they voted in big numbers.”

In fact: Trump got nowhere near that percentage of the Cuban-American vote. Writes NBC: “According to exit polls, Trump won 54 per cent of the Cuban American vote in Florida, where two-thirds of people of Cuban descent live. Latino Decisions’ election eve poll showed he got about 48 per cent of the Cuban American vote nationally and 52 per cent in Florida.”

The claim: “I happened to be in Scotland at Turnberry cutting a ribbon when Brexit happened and we had a vast amount of press there. And I said Brexit — this was the day before, you probably remember, I said Brexit is going to happen and I was scorned in the press for making that prediction. I was scorned.”

In fact: Trump was not in Scotland the day before the Brexit vote. He was there the day after. When he was asked about Brexit the day before the vote, he told Fox Business, “I don’t think anybody should listen to me because I haven’t really focused on it very much.” He did not venture a prediction that day.

22. Jan. 26, 2017 —Interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity

The claim (on companies creating jobs): “Here’s another thing with the media. ‘Oh, they would’ve done it anyway. They weren’t going to do it.’ You see, Jack Ma. He had no intention of doing it until I got elected. And he went down and he said, ‘I’m only going to do this because of Donald Trump.’ And nobody put that in the papers, which is OK.”

In fact: It is not exactly clear whether Ma made his proposal to “create one million” U.S. jobs as a direct result of Trump’s election, but Trump’s claim about media bias is false regardless: upon coming down the elevator at Trump Tower, Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, did not actually tell reporters that he had made the proposal “because of Donald Trump.” He said nothing of that sort at all.

21. Jan. 26, 2017 — Interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity

The claim: “And a wall protects. All you have to do is ask Israel. They were having a total disaster coming across and they had a wall. It’s 99.9 per cent stoppage.”

In fact: Exact numbers do not exist, but Israel’s barrier with the West Bank stops far fewer than “99.9 per cent” of people who seek to cross. The New York Times reported at length last year on “a thriving smuggling industry that allows untold numbers of people to pass over, under, through or around what Israelis call the security barrier.” A police spokesman said “hundreds” of illegal crossers were detained every week.

20. Jan. 26, 2017 — Interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity

The claim (on refugees): “We’ve taken in tens of thousands of people. We know nothing about them. They can say they vet them. They didn’t vet them. They have no papers. How can you vet somebody when you don’t know anything about them and you have no papers?”

In fact: Refugees to the U.S. are rigorously vetted. The process includes multiple kinds of background and security checks and at least two interviews with U.S. representatives. Regardless of their paperwork situation, and regardless of one’s opinion on how good the vetting is, the U.S. knows far more than “nothing” about the refugees it approves.

The claim: “Here in Philadelphia, the murder rate has been steady — I mean, just terribly increasing.”

In fact: The number of Philadelphia homicides in 2016, 277, was actually down from the 280 in 2015. While both years represented an increase from 2013 (246 homicides) and 2014 (248 homicides), the overall trend has been downward: Philadelphia had 391 homicides in 2007 and 331 in 2008. The number of homicides as of Jan. 31, 30, was higher than the 19 at the same time in 2016 but about the same as the 27 in 2015. Regardless, the murder rate is never calculated on a month of data.

18. Jan. 25 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim (about Chicago): “So, look, when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech. Two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can’t have that.”

In fact: There were not only no homicides during Obama’s speech but no shootings at all, the Chicago Tribune reported based on police data.

17. Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: “Look, Barack Obama — if you look back, eight years ago when he first ran — he was running for office in Chicago … and he was laughing at the system because he knew all of those votes were going to him … he was smiling and laughing about the vote in Chicago.”

In fact: This is a gross mischaracterization of Obama’s remarks and behaviour during the 2008 campaign. He did not laugh or smile about the voting system in Chicago, and he did not suggest in any way that he was going to be receiving fraudulent votes. He acknowledged that his party had sometimes “monkeyed” with Chicago elections “in the past.”

16. Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: Regarding voting fraud: “You look at Philadelphia, you look at what’s going on in Philadelphia.”

In fact: There is no evidence of a significant voter fraud problem in Philadelphia.

In fact: There is no evidence of a significant voter fraud problem in Chicago, and there is no evidence that its voting system has become increasingly plagued by fraud.

14.Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: Regarding his false claim of “millions” of possible illegal voters: “Those were Hillary votes. And if you look at it they all voted for Hillary. They all voted for Hillary. They didn’t vote for me. I don’t believe I got one. OK, these are people that voted for Hillary Clinton.”

In fact: These large numbers of illegal voters did not “all” vote for Clinton because they do not exist. Even if they did, it would be impossible for Trump to know that not a single one voted for him, since the ballot is secret. This claim is simply absurd.

13.Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: “Now you’re telling me Pew report has all of a sudden changed.”

In fact: Trump was trying to use a 2012 Pew report as supposed evidence of widespread voter fraud. Muir told him he was wrong — not because the report changed but because it never showed what Trump falsely claims it showed. “The Pew study I directed doesn’t address voter fraud at all,” report leader David Becker told the Washington Post this weekend. Rather, the study addresses non-fraud voter registration issues, such as people remaining on one state’s rolls after they move to another.

12.Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: Muir: “I called the author of the Pew report last night. And he told me that they found no evidence of voter fraud.” Trump: “Really? Then why did he write the report?” Muir: “He said no evidence of voter fraud.” Trump: “Excuse me, then why did he write the report? According to Pew report, then he’s — then he’s grovelling again.”

In fact: Grovelling means “to draw back or crouch down in fearful submission.” Becker is doing the opposite: publicly explaining his work, and explaining why the president is wrong.

In fact: Healthcare.gov did not cost $5 billion. The Obama administration offered a figure of less than $1 billion, while an analysis by Bloomberg found that it cost just over $2 billion.

10.Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: With regard to his speech to the Central Intelligence Agency earlier in the week: “They showed the people applauding and screaming and they were all CIA. There was — somebody was asking (press secretary) Sean (Spicer) – ‘Well, were they Trump people that were put’ — we don’t have Trump people. They were CIA people.”

In fact: Most of the audience was indeed made up of CIA personnel, but Trump is wrong that there were no “Trump people.” Spicer told the press that “maybe 10” people in attendance were part of Trump’s entourage; CBS News reported that an official familiar with the event said Spicer was inaccurate, as Trump and his allies brought about 40 people.

9.Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: “I think you’re demeaning by talking the way you’re talking. I think you’re demeaning. And that’s why I think a lot of people turned on you and turned on a lot of other people. And that’s why you have a 17 per cent approval rating, which is pretty bad.”

In fact: Saying “you” here, Trump wrongly conveys the impression that Muir himself has 17 per cent approval. In fact, there is no polling on Muir. Trump appears to have actually been referring to a 2016 poll about Americans’ views on the media. In that poll, the media’s approval rating was 19 per cent.

8. Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: “No, no, you have to understand, I had a tremendous victory, one of the great victories ever. In terms of counties I think the most ever, or just about the most ever.”

In fact: Trump’s victory was not close to one of the biggest of all time. He lost the popular vote, and his Electoral College margin ranks 46th out of 58 elections. Trump did far better in terms of counties, winning more than any candidate since Ronald Reagan, but he was well short of setting the record or even “just about” tying it: Richard Nixon won more than 2,950 counties in 1972, far exceeding Trump’s 2,623.

7.Jan. 25, 2017 — Interview with ABC’s David Muir

The claim: “In terms of a total audience including television and everything else that you have we had supposedly the biggest crowd in history. The audience watching the show. And I think you would even agree to that. They say I had the biggest crowd in the history of inaugural speeches.”

In fact: “They” can mean anyone, but no expert is declaring that Trump had the biggest inauguration crowd in history. Obama’s 2009 inauguration drew far more people in person and far more television viewers. Trump’s claim relies on the people who watched the inauguration on online streams. It is possible that these people gave him a record, but it is impossible to know for sure.

6. Jan. 23, 2017 — Private meeting with Congressional leaders

The claim: Trump told Congressional leaders that “he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in last November’s election because between three million and five million ‘illegals’ cast ballots, multiple sources told Fox News.”

In fact: This claim, also reported by numerous other major media outlets, simply has no basis in reality. Trump’s own lawyers said in a legal filing that “all available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud.” The National Association of Secretaries of State — the state officials who run elections — said they “are not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump.”

5. Jan. 21, 2017 — Speech at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters

The claim: “So a reporter for Time magazine — and I have been on their cover, like, 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the history of Time Magazine. Like, if Tom Brady is on the cover, it’s one time, because he won the Super Bowl or something, right? I’ve been on for 15 times this year. I don’t think that’s a record, Mike, that can ever be broken. Do you agree with that?”

In fact: Trump’s numbers are well off. He has been on the cover 11 times, Time told Politico, which is not even close to a record: Richard Nixon was on 55 covers. Even if we generously give Trump a pass here — he said he was on covers “like” 14 or 15 times, and he wasn’t sure if he had a record — he his claim about this year is flat wrong. Trump was on eight covers in 2016 and another one on the 2017 week he was speaking here — so either eight or nine total, depending on how you count, not 15.

4. Jan. 21, 2017 — Speech at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters

The repeated claim: “It was almost raining, the rain should have scared em away, but God looked down and He said, we’re not going to let it rain on your speech. In fact, when I first started, I said oh no. First line, I got hit by a couple of drops, and I said this is too bad … but the truth is that, it stopped immediately, it was amazing, and then it became really sunny.”

In fact: Neither of these claims is true. The rain did not stop immediately, and the sky then remained cloudy.

3. Jan. 21, 2017 — Speech at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters

The repeated claim: “Honestly, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was it was, but it went all the way back to the Washington Monument.” Later: “…all the way back to the Washington Monument, was packed.”

In fact: The crowd, which may not have even been half a million people strong, did not come close to reaching the Washington Monument.

The claim: “Even the media said the crowd was massive … that was all the way back down to the Washington Monument.”

In fact: The major media reported that the crowd was much smaller than Barack Obama’s two inauguration crowds, though in line with the inaugurations of other Republicans. The crowd did not come close to reaching the Washington Monument.

1. Jan. 20, 2017 — Post-inauguration Liberty Ball

The claim: “I looked at the rain, which just never came. We finished the speech, went inside, it poured … it’s like God was looking down on us.”

In fact: The rain began right at the beginning of Trump’s speech. During the inauguration itself, the Rev. Franklin Graham told Trump, “Mr. President, in the Bible, rain is a sign of God’s blessing. And it started to rain, Mr. President, when you came to the platform.”

You can find all Daniel Dale’s earlier Trump Checks at thestar.com/trump_check